The next day Lily had to put up with the whispers, and the looks, and the
giggles that came with being part of a new rumour.
She hated it.
"Our school needs to get lives of their own," she growled, as she felt people's eyes upon her at breakfast.
Her friends nodded their agreement.
She also noticed Danny giving her longing, sorrowful looks.
She ignored him. The prick. . . If he thought she was getting back with him, then he was very much mistaken.
He had a black eye coming up as a result of his fight with James the day before. A right shiner it was, and all.
"You ready for class?" Lily asked, gathering her things as her friends hurriedly finished their breakfasts.
"Yeah," Kim mumbled, holding a piece of toast in her hand as she stood up. "What've we got first?"
"Care of Magical Creatures."
"Ugh. That's just wonderful," Courtney said sarcastically. She glanced up at the enchanted ceiling, then out of the window. It wasn't actually raining, but the sky was a thunderous grey, and there was no doubt that it was freezing outside.
"Come on," Kim murmured, standing up. "Let's just go, then."
They made their way out of the castle, discussing various things on the way to class.
". . . So then apparently my sister just started throwing a right tantrum, because she's such a brat, and the girl in the shop just turned around and- " Kim was babbling, and no one was really listening to her story.
"Girls, girls!" the Care of Magical Creatures teacher interrupted them. "Hush, please. And get a move on, you can give me a hand with these. . ." he murmured.
"What are they?" Courtney wrinkled her nose as he led them towards a large circular tub, in which dozens of thin, pale grey serpents were slithering around.
"Ashwinders, of course," the teacher replied.
Lily raised her eyebrows slightly. "And. . . what do we do with them?"
"Nothing much. We're just going to see if you can learn anything about them. We'll let them crawl into the forest, and at the end of the lesson you can go collect their eggs."
"In the forest?!" Kim exclaimed.
"Yes. They're bright red the eggs, so won't be hard to find. . . The Potions Professor wanted me to get hold of some of them, since they can be used in Love Potions. He wanted to let you have a bit of fun, next lesson."
Courtney smiled. "Don't think your love life needs a potion, Lil," she smiled, as the Professor walked away.
"Tell me about it," Lily muttered, rubbing her hands together to keep from the cold.
~*~
A few minutes later, Lily watched blankly as her stupid Ashwinder crawled into the forest, along with everyone elses.
It was a boring lesson, really. And she was freezing cold.
"You alright?" Sirius Black asked, tossing an arm around her shoulders casually.
Lily gave him a cold look. "I'm not in the mood for your teasings, Black."
"Hey!" he said indignantly. "I never said anything! I only asked if you were okay. . . After last night and everything."
"I'm fine," she said firmly.
He nodded, giving her a calculating look. "Yeah. I think you are, y'know." Then he shrugged, and looked in the direction of the Ashwinders, which were now almost out of view. He still had his arm around her shoulders. "James is totally smitten with you, you know," he said finally.
"Sure he is."
"No, seriously. You're all he talks about. I can't get any bloody sleep because of him," Sirius sighed.
"'D'you think Lily will go out with me?' 'Isn't Lily's hair GORGEOUS?' 'Have you seen her eyes? Aren't her eyes gorgeous?' 'Isn't Lily gorgeous, full stop?' 'What can I do to make her like me?' 'Do you think she likes me?' 'She likes me, right?' 'God, I miss her. . . I've only not seen her in an hour'," Sirius mimicked. He screwed up in face and shook his head. "It's disgusting. He's totally head over heels for you. You've TAINTED my main pulling partner."
A smile tugged on Lily's mouth. "Yeah? Well, sorry about that."
Sirius nodded slowly. "Aw, come on Lils. You can't say you don't see it. He likes you, he really does. I can't remember him going on and on about one girl for so long. . . It's scary, actually. Not normal."
Lily snorted.
"And now that you've finally seen sense and got rid of Noonan. . ." Sirius raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"Black, if you're trying to set me up with your friend. . ."
"I'm not! Well. . . Yeah, I guess I am. But he didn't tell me to, before you think that. I just wanted to make sure you knew how much he likes you. . ." he shrugged, before walking away from her.
"Hey Danielle!" he yelled to some random girl who had caught his eye. "You look different. . . I dunno what it is. You're hair looks great, it really does. . . Did I tell you this dream I had last night? You were in it, it was so strange. . . good strange though, good strange. . ."
Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled. She'd have to talk to James later.
~*~
"Lily!"
Lily stopped in her tracks on the way to the Common Room, and sighed.
"Danny. . . Go away," she said dully.
"Can't we just-?" he started.
"No, we can't," she cut him off, marching away.
She made her way to the Library, figuring she may as well get some homework done whilst she was avoiding Danny. . . Her ex. God, it was strange thinking of Danny as an ex-boyfriend. They'd been together that long. . .
She walked quickly to the very back of the Library, to a table she knew was hidden by a large shelf stuffed with books on vampires.
With a sigh, she tossed her bag across the table, quite glad she didn't really know anyone in the Library. She couldn't be arsed making polite conversation.
But, that was soon dashed.
"Remus?" she asked, glancing up from her Potions essay with raised eyebrows. "What are you doing here?"
It seemed he had just appeared from the wall behind her.
"Er. . . Er. . ." he stumbled. "Well, I can tell you that I definitely WASN'T seeing where a certain secret passage the Marauders just found led to."
She smiled. "You lot are so weird."
"Weird? Nah. . . Just curious. Y'know. . . Exploring the school, exploring the grounds. . ."
Lily rolled her eyes. "That's how you spend your free time?" she asked, sounding amused.
Remus shrugged, taking a chair and turning it around, so he was straddling it, to face her.
"And you spend your time studying, huh?"
"No. Well, not all my time, anyway. Now, I am, 'cause. . ."
"Because what?"
"Moony, what are doing? I just said find out where it led to, I didn't say stop and have a three course meal, or whatever you're doing, you git-" James' voice was mumbling, then suddenly he was there too. He shut up as soon as he saw Lily.
"Oh. Uh. . . hey, Lils," he said, smiling.
Remus jumped up from his chair, trying - and failing - to hide a grin. "Well, I suppose I should just GO. You know. . . Do that thing. . . At that place. . . With that. . . person. . ." he said airily, obviously teasing them.
James rolled his eyes.
"Smooth, Remus," he said flatly.
"I try." Remus grinned and quickly exited the Library, throwing the suspicious looking Librarian an innocent smile as he walked past her.
Lily laughed.
"So. . ." James stretched and took the chair opposite her. "Everything's over with you and Noonan, eh?"
She nodded, slowly.
"Hmm."
"Hmm?" Lily smirked. "What kind of reply is that?"
"Any kind of reply you want it to be," he answered, with a grin.
She raised one of her eyebrows at him.
"So now you've not got any attachments. . ." James said cockily, leaning across the table to her. "You're finally going to go out with me, right?"
Lily swallowed, staring at him for a long time.
God, she loved his eyes.
"I. . . I don't know," she murmured.
James' happy face suddenly dropped into a confused frown. "What?" he asked sharply.
"I don't know," Lily repeated.
"But - but you SAID!" James exclaimed, looking hurt. "You said, in the Common Room that you liked me! A-and you said-!" He looked scandalised.
"I know what I said," Lily sighed, looking away from him. She'd never really witnessed him lose his cool like that, before.
"Then what are you talking about?" he breathed.
"James, I don't know. I only broke up with him yesterday, for God's sake!"
"Yeah, but-"
"And. . . James, it's YOU. And you're great and everything, but you're past history with girls isn't exactly one to be proud of-"
James shook his head forcefully, grabbing her hands as he leaned across the table. "But that's exactly it! It's the PAST-!"
"Will you two be quiet!" the Librarian came around the bookshelf, and glared at them. "Or I'll have to ask you to leave."
"We'll be quiet, we'll be quiet," James said impatiently, waving his hand to tell them to go away.
Then he turned back to the girl in front of him. "Lily. . ." he said gently, trying to calm down. "I understand that you're not in the most trusting of moods right now, what with Noonan-"
"That's not it, James-"
"But you've got to give me a chance," he insisted, gripping her wrists, and staring pleadingly into her eyes. He suddenly let her go and ran a hand through his hair with frustration. "For God's sake Lil, I don't know what it is, but. . . It's like you've got this power over me, I. . . I don't know, I can't stop thinking. . ." He sighed and shook his head. "Lily, please. You've got to trust me."
Lily bit on her lower lip, looking at him thoughtfully.
"But. . ." she murmured half heartedly, then trailed off. Before she even came up with something suitable to say, James had jumped up from his seat and grabbed her, forcefully pulling her lips to his. One arm was tight around her waist, holding her to him, and the other was immediately in her hair.
Lily was rigid with surprise for a few moments, but after a few seconds relaxed into the kiss, much to James' delight.
"You have no idea how much I wanted to do that," he breathed against her lips a few moments later, pressing his forehead against hers. "To do that and not have you worrying about your stupid boyfriend."
Lily smiled.
"You're so beautiful. . ." he continued, brushing his hand across her cheek.
"You're going soft," she murmured, kissing his lips gently. "Hardly meeting your bad boy image."
"I don't care," he said quietly, glancing from her eyes to her lips, before capturing her in another passionate kiss.
~*~
Hey!
Well, that was longer than the last one. . . LoL. Thanks for your reviews!! I'd say more, but my hands are so cold I can't really move them. Plus I'm off to write a speech for English. . . views on animal testing, anyone? LoL.
Please review! I'll try and get the next chappie out soon.
She hated it.
"Our school needs to get lives of their own," she growled, as she felt people's eyes upon her at breakfast.
Her friends nodded their agreement.
She also noticed Danny giving her longing, sorrowful looks.
She ignored him. The prick. . . If he thought she was getting back with him, then he was very much mistaken.
He had a black eye coming up as a result of his fight with James the day before. A right shiner it was, and all.
"You ready for class?" Lily asked, gathering her things as her friends hurriedly finished their breakfasts.
"Yeah," Kim mumbled, holding a piece of toast in her hand as she stood up. "What've we got first?"
"Care of Magical Creatures."
"Ugh. That's just wonderful," Courtney said sarcastically. She glanced up at the enchanted ceiling, then out of the window. It wasn't actually raining, but the sky was a thunderous grey, and there was no doubt that it was freezing outside.
"Come on," Kim murmured, standing up. "Let's just go, then."
They made their way out of the castle, discussing various things on the way to class.
". . . So then apparently my sister just started throwing a right tantrum, because she's such a brat, and the girl in the shop just turned around and- " Kim was babbling, and no one was really listening to her story.
"Girls, girls!" the Care of Magical Creatures teacher interrupted them. "Hush, please. And get a move on, you can give me a hand with these. . ." he murmured.
"What are they?" Courtney wrinkled her nose as he led them towards a large circular tub, in which dozens of thin, pale grey serpents were slithering around.
"Ashwinders, of course," the teacher replied.
Lily raised her eyebrows slightly. "And. . . what do we do with them?"
"Nothing much. We're just going to see if you can learn anything about them. We'll let them crawl into the forest, and at the end of the lesson you can go collect their eggs."
"In the forest?!" Kim exclaimed.
"Yes. They're bright red the eggs, so won't be hard to find. . . The Potions Professor wanted me to get hold of some of them, since they can be used in Love Potions. He wanted to let you have a bit of fun, next lesson."
Courtney smiled. "Don't think your love life needs a potion, Lil," she smiled, as the Professor walked away.
"Tell me about it," Lily muttered, rubbing her hands together to keep from the cold.
~*~
A few minutes later, Lily watched blankly as her stupid Ashwinder crawled into the forest, along with everyone elses.
It was a boring lesson, really. And she was freezing cold.
"You alright?" Sirius Black asked, tossing an arm around her shoulders casually.
Lily gave him a cold look. "I'm not in the mood for your teasings, Black."
"Hey!" he said indignantly. "I never said anything! I only asked if you were okay. . . After last night and everything."
"I'm fine," she said firmly.
He nodded, giving her a calculating look. "Yeah. I think you are, y'know." Then he shrugged, and looked in the direction of the Ashwinders, which were now almost out of view. He still had his arm around her shoulders. "James is totally smitten with you, you know," he said finally.
"Sure he is."
"No, seriously. You're all he talks about. I can't get any bloody sleep because of him," Sirius sighed.
"'D'you think Lily will go out with me?' 'Isn't Lily's hair GORGEOUS?' 'Have you seen her eyes? Aren't her eyes gorgeous?' 'Isn't Lily gorgeous, full stop?' 'What can I do to make her like me?' 'Do you think she likes me?' 'She likes me, right?' 'God, I miss her. . . I've only not seen her in an hour'," Sirius mimicked. He screwed up in face and shook his head. "It's disgusting. He's totally head over heels for you. You've TAINTED my main pulling partner."
A smile tugged on Lily's mouth. "Yeah? Well, sorry about that."
Sirius nodded slowly. "Aw, come on Lils. You can't say you don't see it. He likes you, he really does. I can't remember him going on and on about one girl for so long. . . It's scary, actually. Not normal."
Lily snorted.
"And now that you've finally seen sense and got rid of Noonan. . ." Sirius raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"Black, if you're trying to set me up with your friend. . ."
"I'm not! Well. . . Yeah, I guess I am. But he didn't tell me to, before you think that. I just wanted to make sure you knew how much he likes you. . ." he shrugged, before walking away from her.
"Hey Danielle!" he yelled to some random girl who had caught his eye. "You look different. . . I dunno what it is. You're hair looks great, it really does. . . Did I tell you this dream I had last night? You were in it, it was so strange. . . good strange though, good strange. . ."
Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled. She'd have to talk to James later.
~*~
"Lily!"
Lily stopped in her tracks on the way to the Common Room, and sighed.
"Danny. . . Go away," she said dully.
"Can't we just-?" he started.
"No, we can't," she cut him off, marching away.
She made her way to the Library, figuring she may as well get some homework done whilst she was avoiding Danny. . . Her ex. God, it was strange thinking of Danny as an ex-boyfriend. They'd been together that long. . .
She walked quickly to the very back of the Library, to a table she knew was hidden by a large shelf stuffed with books on vampires.
With a sigh, she tossed her bag across the table, quite glad she didn't really know anyone in the Library. She couldn't be arsed making polite conversation.
But, that was soon dashed.
"Remus?" she asked, glancing up from her Potions essay with raised eyebrows. "What are you doing here?"
It seemed he had just appeared from the wall behind her.
"Er. . . Er. . ." he stumbled. "Well, I can tell you that I definitely WASN'T seeing where a certain secret passage the Marauders just found led to."
She smiled. "You lot are so weird."
"Weird? Nah. . . Just curious. Y'know. . . Exploring the school, exploring the grounds. . ."
Lily rolled her eyes. "That's how you spend your free time?" she asked, sounding amused.
Remus shrugged, taking a chair and turning it around, so he was straddling it, to face her.
"And you spend your time studying, huh?"
"No. Well, not all my time, anyway. Now, I am, 'cause. . ."
"Because what?"
"Moony, what are doing? I just said find out where it led to, I didn't say stop and have a three course meal, or whatever you're doing, you git-" James' voice was mumbling, then suddenly he was there too. He shut up as soon as he saw Lily.
"Oh. Uh. . . hey, Lils," he said, smiling.
Remus jumped up from his chair, trying - and failing - to hide a grin. "Well, I suppose I should just GO. You know. . . Do that thing. . . At that place. . . With that. . . person. . ." he said airily, obviously teasing them.
James rolled his eyes.
"Smooth, Remus," he said flatly.
"I try." Remus grinned and quickly exited the Library, throwing the suspicious looking Librarian an innocent smile as he walked past her.
Lily laughed.
"So. . ." James stretched and took the chair opposite her. "Everything's over with you and Noonan, eh?"
She nodded, slowly.
"Hmm."
"Hmm?" Lily smirked. "What kind of reply is that?"
"Any kind of reply you want it to be," he answered, with a grin.
She raised one of her eyebrows at him.
"So now you've not got any attachments. . ." James said cockily, leaning across the table to her. "You're finally going to go out with me, right?"
Lily swallowed, staring at him for a long time.
God, she loved his eyes.
"I. . . I don't know," she murmured.
James' happy face suddenly dropped into a confused frown. "What?" he asked sharply.
"I don't know," Lily repeated.
"But - but you SAID!" James exclaimed, looking hurt. "You said, in the Common Room that you liked me! A-and you said-!" He looked scandalised.
"I know what I said," Lily sighed, looking away from him. She'd never really witnessed him lose his cool like that, before.
"Then what are you talking about?" he breathed.
"James, I don't know. I only broke up with him yesterday, for God's sake!"
"Yeah, but-"
"And. . . James, it's YOU. And you're great and everything, but you're past history with girls isn't exactly one to be proud of-"
James shook his head forcefully, grabbing her hands as he leaned across the table. "But that's exactly it! It's the PAST-!"
"Will you two be quiet!" the Librarian came around the bookshelf, and glared at them. "Or I'll have to ask you to leave."
"We'll be quiet, we'll be quiet," James said impatiently, waving his hand to tell them to go away.
Then he turned back to the girl in front of him. "Lily. . ." he said gently, trying to calm down. "I understand that you're not in the most trusting of moods right now, what with Noonan-"
"That's not it, James-"
"But you've got to give me a chance," he insisted, gripping her wrists, and staring pleadingly into her eyes. He suddenly let her go and ran a hand through his hair with frustration. "For God's sake Lil, I don't know what it is, but. . . It's like you've got this power over me, I. . . I don't know, I can't stop thinking. . ." He sighed and shook his head. "Lily, please. You've got to trust me."
Lily bit on her lower lip, looking at him thoughtfully.
"But. . ." she murmured half heartedly, then trailed off. Before she even came up with something suitable to say, James had jumped up from his seat and grabbed her, forcefully pulling her lips to his. One arm was tight around her waist, holding her to him, and the other was immediately in her hair.
Lily was rigid with surprise for a few moments, but after a few seconds relaxed into the kiss, much to James' delight.
"You have no idea how much I wanted to do that," he breathed against her lips a few moments later, pressing his forehead against hers. "To do that and not have you worrying about your stupid boyfriend."
Lily smiled.
"You're so beautiful. . ." he continued, brushing his hand across her cheek.
"You're going soft," she murmured, kissing his lips gently. "Hardly meeting your bad boy image."
"I don't care," he said quietly, glancing from her eyes to her lips, before capturing her in another passionate kiss.
~*~
Hey!
Well, that was longer than the last one. . . LoL. Thanks for your reviews!! I'd say more, but my hands are so cold I can't really move them. Plus I'm off to write a speech for English. . . views on animal testing, anyone? LoL.
Please review! I'll try and get the next chappie out soon.